Block copolymers have long been used to obtain desirable performance characteristics in various products such as films, adhesives and molded articles. Block copolymers are particularly useful because the blocks can be chemically tailored to optimize desired characteristics.
Siloxane polymers have unique properties derived mainly from the physical and chemical characteristics of the siloxane bond. Such properties include low glass transition temperatures, high thermal and oxidative stability, UV resistance, low surface energy and hydrophobicity, good electrical properties and high permeability to many gases. They also have very good biocompatibility and are of great interest as biomaterials which can be utilized in the body in the presence of blood.
Unfortunately, despite these desirable features, most polydimethylsiloxane polymers based solely on polydimethylsiloxane lack tensile strength. Consequently, several references suggest ways for conveniently increasing the strength of siloxane polymers especially elastomers. For example, various references suggest that mechanical properties of polysiloxane polymers can be improved substantially through the preparation of block copolymers which include as a repeating unit a "soft" polysiloxane block or segment and any of a variety of other "hard" blocks or segments such as polyurethane. See, for examples, (Ward) U.K. Patent GB 2 140 444B, published Jun. 5, 1985, (Cavezzan et al) U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,758, (Nyilas) U.S. Pat. No. 3,562,352, and (Kira) U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,343.
Segmented polydimethylsiloxane polyurea elastomers, with silicone segment molecular weights less than about 4,000, prepared from silicone diamines and diisocyanates are described in Polymer, Vol. 25, Pages 1800-1816, December, 1984.
However, elastomers with silicone segment molecular weights greater than about 4,000 have not been described in the literature. This reflects the difficulty of obtaining silicone diamines of sufficient purity having molecular weights greater than about 4,000. Inherent in the conventional method of preparation of silicone diamines is the generation of monofunctional and nonfunctional impurities in the desired diamine product. These contaminants have the same average molecular weight as the diamine but cannot be removed from the diamine. Thus, elastomers obtained by chain extension of these silicones contain these impurities, and the elastomeric properties are negatively affected by them. For example, monofunctional impurities inhibit the chain extension reaction and limit the attainment of optimum molecular weight, and thereby optimum tensile strength, of the polyurea. Nonfunctional silicone oil can act as a plasticizing agent, which also contributes to reduction in tensile strength, and such oil can bloom to the surface of the elastomer and be transferred, e.g., to a pressure sensitive adhesive in contact with it, resulting in loss of adhesive properties.